Weekday and The Non-Violence Project partners for peace

In a time where fashion tackles social issues, Weekday takes a stand againstviolenceFashion is getting political. We see it on the catwalk, as well as theincreasing amount of industry people speaking up, and now we see it on thehigh-street.

As always, high-street giant H&M group is in the lead – H&M has teamed up withWWF to reduce waste and as of this summer Monki’s head office got LGBTQcertified.

Now Weekday, a brand known for its ability to grasp the zeitgeis,t has taken astand against violence.

Earlier this month the retailer presented its new Peace Force initiative incollaboration with the non-profit organisation The Non-Violence Project.

The collaboration involves a Peace Force network, entailing nine individuals,who have been affected by violence and choose to fight for a peaceful future.Along with that, a limited collection inspired by The Non-Violence Project’sknotted gun symbol was released, offering Weekday’s customers a chance topromote the peaceful message as well.

“This project is very much a collective effort,” explains Blaise Oberson, CEO ofThe Non-Violence Project Foundation. “We bring our extensive experience workingwith educational initiatives and teaching non-violence communication, whileWeekday created a collection inspired by our work and found spokespeople withintheir target group who could continue the work of NVP for a new audience.”

And getting the message to reach a wider audience is important for TheNon-Violence Project. The organisation has operated since 1993 but is stillrather unknown to most of the youth today.

“A collaboration with a fashion brand like Weekday that attracts young people,is a way for us to further spread awareness about our organisation, what we doand why we do it. We want to reach out to young people around the world and afashion collaboration opens a window we don’t usually have,” Oberson says.

For Weekday, political projects are far from uncommon. The brand has a historyfor advocating issues within the fashion industry and society as whole.

Karin Hagman, PR manager at Weekday says: “We are not a brand that shies awayfrom complex topics. We want to speak up about the things that are important tous and as we have a platform to say something, it would be horrible if wedidn’t.”

She adds: “If you read the paper or watch the news, you know that streetviolence, domestic violence and cyberbullying are a major problem throughout theworld. Something needs to be done and we want to engage people in thatconversation.”

Today only two out of ten adults in the UK are likely to experience crime. But,although the number of violent crimes is decreasing those that do happen areoften more harmful. Last year, there was an increase of 22% for knife relatedcrimes together with an 11% increase in crime involving firearms.

And violence does not only amount to the physical kind. It entails acts ofcyberbullying and verbal abuse as well. The latter being the second most commonreason for children need protection in the UK.

“Even though there is a great deal of violence, there is also a lot oflike-minded individuals who are frustrated by the political and socialsituations that surround them, and who are fighting for change in theircommunity,” says Hagman. “With this project, we tried to connect those fightingfor peace, to give them a new platform to share their voice while also sharingour own demand for peace.”

Buying a scarf might not turn a violent home into a calm one, but it starts aconversation about violence.

“We believe that to help promote a more peaceful society we need to address theproblem instead of ignoring it. Fashion is a very strong messaging tool, andhopefully, when a fashion brand speaks up it gets the attention of people whomight not know how to get involved or make their own statement,” Hagman adds.

Accompanying the project is a short film presenting the nine Peace Force memberswho, across different languages, share their individual stories with violence toshow that no one is alone in their experiences.

“With this peace force team, we can tell other people that they are not alone inexperiencing violence. We can tell them that no matter how difficult theirexperiences were, we can use those experiences as an inspiration and a drive tospeak up and stand up for something positive,” says Oberson.

This is only the beginning for the Peace Force. With this project Weekday hopesto start at three-year collaboration with The Non-Violence Project, to helpinspire even more young people to stand up for peace.https://www.shiftlondon.org/fashion/weekday-and-the-non-violence-project-partners-for-peace/